Delay

Delay a value by one or more frames.

What it does

Delay holds a signal and plays it back later. A number input becomes a temporal offset: the output trails the input by the time set in milliseconds. An audio input becomes a full delay line with feedback, where echo, chorus, flanger, comb-filter, and string-pluck are all the same node at different Time and Feedback settings.

Mode picks the character of the repeats. Simple gives a clean, single-line echo. Ping Pong alternates the echoes between two outputs for a stereo bounce. Tape runs the feedback through a gentle lowpass, so each repeat is duller than the last.

When to use it

ParameterTypeDefault
inputOneOf([Number, NumberArray])
timeNumber250
feedbackNumber0.300
mixNumber0.500
modeString"Simple"

Gotchas

The second output, output_right, is intended to give Ping Pong mode a true alternating left/right bounce. It currently mirrors the left/mono output exactly. Treat Ping Pong as mono until true stereo alternation lands.

Feedback tops out at 0.99, not 1.0. That headroom stops the feedback loop running away into an ever-louder buildup while still letting repeats ring on for a very long time.

Changing Time, Feedback, or Mix during playback is safe: the delay keeps its history and adjusts smoothly. Rewiring a new signal into Input, or switching Mode, clears the buffer and starts fresh.

Worked example

  1. Add a Delay and wire a signal into Input.

  2. Set Time to around 300 ms and Feedback to 0.4 for a handful of decaying echoes.

  3. Adjust Mix to blend the echoes with the dry signal. Try 0.5 for an even blend.

  4. Switch Mode to Tape to hear the repeats gradually darken, or to Ping Pong for an alternating bounce.

See also

Time Offset · Oscillate · ADSR · Numbers, signals & audio